At the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va., audiences are not plunged into darkness as in most of today’s productions, but are as visible to the actors as the actors are to them.

File 2011

STAUNTON, Va. — In Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley, a theater is doing things the way Shakespeare did — and it’s not how most people have ever seen Shakespeare.

No lighting effects, no opulent sets requiring time to change, no opening-night stuffiness.

The American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Va., returns to the way the Bard’s plays were performed in the 17th century: for pure entertainment.

The experience begins with the theater building itself. Built in 2001, it’s a historically accurate re-creation of the Blackfriars Theater in London, the indoor theater where Shakespeare produced plays for a wealthier clientele and in a more intimate space than in the larger outdoor Globe. Historians believe that The Winter’s Tale, Cymbeline and The Tempest were written for that space, according to Shakespeare’s London Theatreland by Julian Bowsher.

The original London Blackfriars was destroyed in 1655. The Staunton theater is the only re-creation of it in the world, and for it, the ASC used the same advisers as those for the London re-creation of the Globe.

The ASC motto “we do it with the lights on” means that the theater is fully lit during performances. Audiences are not plunged into darkness as in most of today’s productions, but are as visible to the actors as the actors are to them.

Wooden benches replace individual seats, some so close to the stage that you have to move your feet to avoid an actor. Brave audience members can get really involved in the action by sitting on stools on the stage itself, where interacting with performers is common.

The stage is bare of props, except for perhaps a chair or table. You can buy beer and a snack from carts that roll around before the show and during intermissions (called interludes) when actors also sing and dance. It’s all just how Shakespeare did it.

The ASC does everything possible to remove what Ralph Alan Cohen, co-founder and director of mission, calls the “going-to-church effect” under which most people encounter Shakespeare.

Before Shakespeare became Shakespeare the god of theater and bane of high school English classes, he was a guy providing an afternoon’s entertainment for the Elizabethan masses. Cohen says the ASC is simply reviving the original experience, which was a lively, interactive good time.

“We want it to be more like a party. We serve drinks off of the stage, the lights are on, it’s more like a community. You can have a really good time and not necessarily be that interested in the show,” Cohen says. “We imitate what it was like to be at the first ones, 300 years later.”

The result is that the audience doesn’t just sit and listen. With the lights on, the actors and audiences more easily connect. I realized how much the actors observe when I met one after watching a production of Two Gentlemen of Verona. She not only recognized me but wanted to know where I got a necklace I’d been wearing.

The interludes between acts (a practice from Shakespeare’s time) use modern music that fits the themes of the plays, making for an enjoyable mashup. During an interlude at Two Gentlemen of Verona, one actress belted out the ’60s hit “My Boyfriend’s Back,” which was such a great fit for the play that I laughed out loud.

A dog plays a big part in that play. The actors used dogs from an area shelter and encouraged people to adopt them and other shelter pets.

The ASC offers performances all 52 weeks of the year in repertory, which means that, depending on the time of year, you can see from three to five different plays in a visit.

Actors prepare for performances the way Shakespeare’s actors did as well, with no lengthy rehearsal times and playing multiple roles. Each winter brings the Actor’s Renaissance Season: no directors or costume designers, just the actors doing it all, as in Shakespeare’s time.

Shakespeare’s comedies, histories and tragedies are mixed in with rarely seen plays by his contemporaries, such as Ben Jonson and Christopher Marlowe. A few modern productions are thrown in, such as the 2013 musical Return to Forbidden Planet. (For those who aren’t Shakespeare geeks like myself, the classic sci-fi movie Forbidden Planet was a retelling of The Tempest.)

Students from the University of Texas Shakespeare at Winedale program have performed at Staunton.

So, why Shakespeare in Staunton, Va.?

“Since Blackfriars got built, Staunton has been called one of the 10 best small towns in America,” Cohen says. “It’s in the middle of a beautiful part of the country. The restaurants are good and getting better. It’s close to lots of things, from Monticello to caverns. It’s a great place to be.”

And it’s home to some of the best fun you can have with the lights on.

Staunton has historic homes and antiques shops, along with the Woodrow Wilson Presidential Library and Museum. A classical music festival takes place each summer. Nearby sights and activities include Thomas Jefferson’s homes of Monticello and Poplar Forest, several caverns, Civil War history in Lexington, Va., and West Virginia ski resorts. For a small town, it has some good restaurants, including the locally focused Zynodoa. visitstaunton.com and virginia.org.

Visitors can fly into the Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport near Staunton or to Charlottesville Albemarle Regional Airport about 45 minutes away. There are daily shuttle flights from Washington-Dulles International Airport outside Washington, D.C., to Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport. There is also an Amtrak station in Staunton. You will want to rent a car to explore the area, although downtown Staunton is very walkable.

DESTINATION SHAKESPEARE

The American Shakespeare Center is one example of a phenomenon called “destination Shakespeare centers” or “destination theater.” These refer to small towns which have turned theater, Shakespearean theater in particular, into a draw for arts-minded vacationers.

Ashland, Ore. (population 20,000) has hosted the Oregon Shakespeare Festival since 1935. The festival offers 11 plays, a mix of Shakespeare and other playwrights, from February through November. osfashland.org.

Cedar City, Utah (population 30,000) began the Utah Shakespeare Festival in the early 1960s to offer visitors to the area’s national parks some evening activities. Eight plays of several kinds are performed from June through October. bard.org.

Stratford, Ontario (population 30,000)has the Stratford Festival. In 2014, it’s offering 12 plays at four theaters from May through October. The festival began in 1953 when the town needed an economic boost after the loss of the railway industry. stratfordfestival.ca.